Author: LinaewenTitle: A Vexing FoeRating: GTheme: June BugElements: gnatSummary: In the course of his journey, Boromir encounters a foe he cannot defeat.Word Count: 225

A Vexing Foe

The setting sun glowed behind the clouds on the horizon and a faint breeze stirred the vast fields of tall grass. Boromir raised his head, seeking the breeze to cool his hot face. He had been trudging across the grassy plain all day, his progress broken only by a few small streams that meandered through the grasslands. It had been a hot, miserable day, made worse by the clouds of gnats that swarmed above the heads of waving grass, just at face height. Boromir had been forced to cover his mouth and nose with a spare shirt from his pack to keep the insects from tormenting him, but they continued to plague him in spite of the protection. These flying insects were a foe he could not defeat. He sighed in vexation as the lowering sun lit upon a large cloud of the insects just ahead; there was no way forward except through the army of gnats amassed against him. He had no choice but to face them, and hope that his path would soon take him out of the grass fields to a hill where he could feel wind upon his face once more and be rid of the annoying gnats that continually swarmed about his face.

Boromir tied his shirt more tightly over his nose and mouth, and plunged forward into the cloud.